The ever-increasing amount of air traffic has caused a marked increase in the workload of flight crews and air traffic controllers in high traffic density areas around airports. The Next Generation (NextGen) overhaul of the United States airspace system and the companion Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) overhaul of the European airspace system creates various trajectory-based mechanisms to improve air traffic management on those continents. Some solutions include the increased use of time-based requirements including time-based aircraft spacing and separation in high traffic density areas.
In addition, electronic flight bag (EFB) solutions, which include electronic display systems for the flight deck or cabin crew member use, are gaining in popularity. For example, EFB devices can display a variety of aviation data or perform basic calculations (e.g., performance data, fuel calculations, etc.). In the past, some of these functions had to be manually entered using paper references or were based on data provided to the flight crew by an airline's flight dispatch function.
With such advances, flight interval management (FIM) has become a critical component of the Communications Navigation Surveillance Air Traffic Management (CNS ATM) modernization efforts such as the FAA Next Generation Air Transportation System and the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) programs. FIM avionics automation in the cockpit enables the flight crew to fly an approach with an assigned time and distance-based spacing goal behind another aircraft enabling reduced variability in arrival rates and reduced average separation between arriving aircraft.
These and many more such time-based requirements demand the crew monitor the time and manipulate flight and thrust controls to achieve a result at the stipulated time. Currently existing human interfaces do not provide sufficient situational awareness of the time element and leaves achieving a result to the analysis and assumptions of the crew. In certain cases, if the aircraft reports earlier or later, the operation of other aircraft may be affected. Hence, the new requirements of the SESAR and the NextGen initiatives work towards the goals of achieving the economic aspects that result from space and fuel optimization. That is, both of these goals can only be achieved, in most instances, by saving time in flight which entails following and adhering strictly to a time element during the aircraft arrival.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide additional interfaces and tools to meet these goals and for more situational awareness applications that result in better time-based control to the crew of the aircraft and for controls that allow the crew to monitor and to enable the possibility of the aircraft achieving a required activity in accordance with a given time-based instruction.
Accordingly, it is desirable to use the flight interval management systems and flight management interval applications in this endeavor for at least the reasons that include such systems enable easy implementation in current and legacy aircrafts without additional wiring and display device attachments needed in their adoption.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide one or more alternatives to the required use and flight management system (FMS) interfaces that facilitate these options by displaying appropriate interactions with aircraft onboard avionics. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.